MARTIN Stephenson will be playing a stripped back show in Warrington before a special tour marking the 30th anniversary of his debut album.

The north east artist has recorded more than 40 records as a solo artist and with other musicians but it all started when he released Boat to Bolivia with The Daintees in 1986.

Martin, who was inspired to become a performer by his psychedelic music-loving table tennis coach Jim Sixsmith, will be playing at the Pyramid on Friday, September 23.

Then in November and December the 55-year-old will be reuniting with The Daintees to play Boat To Bolivia in full.

Recorded with Gil Norton, who has produced albums for Pixies, the record shunned the typical 80s sound.

Instead of synthesizers and gated drums, the band opted for acoustic guitars, pedal steel, harmonica and double bass.

County Durham singer-songwriter Martin’s early love of literature and music led to the formation of the first Daintees line-up in his early teens.

Martin has been inspired by everything from folk to rockabilly but it was the punk rock phenomenon of the late 1970s that really motivated him.

Everything changed when he heard the Sex Pistols, aged 15.

“Up until that point I didn’t think I could touch a guitar,” added Martin.

“I thought it was a magical thing for magical people. I thought Jimi Hendrix lived on another planet."

Since then his genre-spanning career has incorporated folk, ragtime, jazz, rockabilly, show tunes, punk-pop and country.

And even when he is having a day off at home, he is often bitten by the music bug.

He added: “Sometimes I go out on the street and play Chet Atkins stuff, or Merle Travis. It’s lovely, because I don’t put a case out for money, I just do it because I love doing it."

- Martin Stephenson is at the Pyramid on September 23. Visit pyramidparrhall.com. Visit gigsandtours.com for tickets to the special Boat to Bolivia tour.